Western Southern Anyone?

[NKYNewbie]

Good day to you all. This is my first post to this forum.
I have been scannin the topics for a couple of days and, after 4 months in the business, I wish I had found you sooner.

I have been working as a captive agent for Bankers Life and Casualty, making very little in comissions, getting very little "useful" training, and cold-calling the same irritatied seniors that my fellow agents and every other marketer of MAPD/MedSupp has been since October.

In frustration, I am leaving the company (the first time I have quit a job since 1985) and moving to another. I have seen several negative remarks about Bankers but have struggled to find many about Western Southern.

Western Southern has offered me a home and promised great training, qualified leads, a base salary and a fast-track to management.

Any opinions or personal experience any of you would care to share would be greatly appreciated.

Thnx, Allen

 

[Newby]

Good day to you all. This is my first post to this forum.
I have been scannin the topics for a couple of days and, after 4 months in the business, I wish I had found you sooner.

I have been working as a captive agent for Bankers Life and Casualty, making very little in comissions, getting very little "useful" training, and cold-calling the same irritatied seniors that my fellow agents and every other marketer of MAPD/MedSupp has been since October.

In frustration, I am leaving the company (the first time I have quit a job since 1985) and moving to another. I have seen several negative remarks about Bankers but have struggled to find many about Western Southern.

Western Southern has offered me a home and promised great training, qualified leads, a base salary and a fast-track to management.

Any opinions or personal experience any of you would care to share would be greatly appreciated.

Thnx, Allen

In my area (Southern Indiana) Western-Southern agents seem to be bottom-feeders just like Bankers. If you want to stay captive I suggest New York Life or Northwestern Mutual. Louisville has very active offices for both.

If you want to work the senior market, a better plan may be to find a good independent agency and work under an experienced agent while you learn. If you're stuck with one company you are going to have a hard time competing. For instance Banker's Med Sups seem to be priced around 35 to 40% higher than the lower priced sups. That makes them hard to sell and even harder to keep on the books.

I wouldn't want to be limited to one brand of insurance.

 

[CHUMPS FROM OXFORD]

W&S has been around a long time, but most of their products are geared towards "debit" style folks.

 

[NKYNewbie]

Thanks for the replies.
From my experience, Bankers has some pricing issues..especially in KY. My biggest personal issue is that the environment feels llike a used car lot.

I have been talking with the local Western Southern management for a few months and have a good feeling about the team in place but, who knows???

I am meeting with them again Monday. We'll see how that goes.

 

[senior-advisor-indiana]

Did you read the replies? I didn't see anything positive about W&S. Did I miss something here? Why waste your time talking with them?

 

[NKYNewbie]

Did you read the replies? I didn't see anything positive about W&S. Did I miss something here? Why waste your time talking with them?

I am seeking personal experience, not hearsay. The replies thus far have been somewhat negative but do not seem to be gleaned from personal experience.

In other parts of the forum I have seen positve feedback from former agents who got their start at WS.

Thanks for your concern though. I'll take it under consideration.

 

[Newby]

I am seeking personal experience, not hearsay. The replies thus far have been somewhat negative but do not seem to be gleaned from personal experience.

In other parts of the forum I have seen positve feedback from former agents who got their start at WS.

Thanks for your concern though. I'll take it under consideration.

I agree. The person who runs YOUR local office could make all the difference in the world. Could be a good place to learn.

You will always have the problem in a captive agency though about trying to compete with independent agets. They will always have an advantage on you because they have many more products to choose from and can find the better price. I would give that strong consideration.

Western-Southern has a good rating but their name brand doesn't add much value in most people's minds. It's going to be a disadvantage.

Again, I recommend looking first to see if there is a strong independent agency that is looking to train new recruits. You will be glad you did.

 

[Insuranceman]

I worked foe WS for a year. Email me with your phone # so I can give you more details on about working for them.

 

[HomeService]

I looked into it and thought it sounded good. But, the office is 200 miles away and they keep telling me { for like 3 years now} they have no need right now for an office nor an agent here in my town, maybe in the future.

 

[Jenananda]

Hi Allen,

I started my career captive and went independent soon after. I think independent is the way as you always have the option of helping your clients find the better values. Also, last year I joined UandIWin and that has been a real blessing, especially since Dec 2007 when they upped the commission equivalents. If you want to be independent please contact me and I'll share the ups and downs I've gone through over the phone or by email. I'm so happy to be able to tell a client "let me shop it for you" and actually get back to them with what I know is a pretty good deal.

Jennifer